Friday, August 31, 2007

If you've been keeping an eye on the ever-growing column of show flyers on the site's sidebar, then by no means do we have to explain that this next month and a half are totally nuts with amazing shows: Black Lips, !!!, Bonde Do Role, Devendra Banhart with Jana Hunter and now, John Vanderslice.

He's known as "the nicest guy in indie rock" and it's totally true. His participation with blogs (including a full tour sponsored by one) is a genius gesture to all his fans. The September 14 show will be at the new Dallas venue The Loft. Raleigh's Bowerbirds are set to open.

This is that time when I post all of my favorite songs and videos from the past month, so you guys aren't actually forced to read all my words and stuff everyday. August was a slow and kind of lazy month around here, but there were still a number of gems to be had:

victoria bergsman

As I mentioned a fewtimes this month, I listened to a lot of The Tough Alliance in August. The Swedish duo somehow managed to take a lovely song by fellow Swede Victoria Bergsman's new Taken By Trees and make it even better. The best song of the month, hands down:

This is an old one (1966) that we only recently discovered, and it's been in constant rotation ever since. The song was also masterfully utilized by Diplo in his better-than-the-original remix of Spank Rock's "Put That Pussy on Me." Also be sure to check out the "live" video here.

I probably post on Italians Do It Better label-mates Glass Candy and Chromatics waaay too much, but dude. As long as they keep releasing consistently amazing demos for free download on their respective myspace pages, I'll keep talking about them:

After countless spins over the last couple weeks, I'm still convinced Celebration's new, David Sitek-produced The Modern Tribe LP is a huge step forward for the band, and could end up as one of the best albums of 2007. So many outstanding songs, including "Heartbreak," "Hands Off My Gold," "Comets," and this, the record's first single:

Plenty has been said about Caribou's brilliant new album, Andorra, and for good reason. If you've somehow managed to avoid blogs and Pitchforks and the internet all summer long, here is the best song from the Best New Music-endowed LP:

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Fuck yes. Chromatics have already released two of my favorite singles of 2007 (see "In the City" and "Night Drive"), but this might be the best of the bunch. Disclaimer: this could have something to do with the fact that I've always worshipped Kate Bush's version of this song, and Johnny Jewel's flawless production combined with Ruth Radelet's dark and distant (yet always stunning) vocals definitely do justice to Bush's original. The band also posted a new demo called "Mask," another great song featuring more of their signature cryptic lyrics.

Austin's cutest band, Yellow Fever, is set to release the extremely limited new The Culver City EP 7" on hugpatch records. Hugpatch calls the band "a perfect mixture of Stereolab and the Young Marble Giants - confident, forward-thrusting, yet minimal and patient." Here's the A-side, and stay tuned for an exciting Yellow Fever-related announcement right here in about an hour:

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Quick reminder: Chicago's Flosstradamus and Kid Sister are in Dallas tonight at Suite. Never been to this venue, but this should kick ass. Bring your copy of the URB Next 1000, maybe they'll sign it for you. The Party opens.

Thanks to Pitchfork for alerting us to the first mp3 to surface from Band of Horses' upcoming full-length, Cease To Begin. "Is There a Ghost" (the LP's opening track) showcases the band's main strength, which would be Ben Bridwell's unmistakable soaring voice. It's safe to say that fans of Everything All The Time will be all over this, because it's more of the same:

Sanctuary Group has reissued a remastered version of The Modern Lovers' absolutely genius and hugely influential John Cale-produced 1976 debut, which has been out of print domestically since '89. The reissue, which was released in the UK a few years back and comes out today in the U.S., features 8 bonus tracks(!), including alternate versions of "Someone I Care About," "Modern World," and this bonafide classic roadtrip anthem:

Monday, August 27, 2007

Here's the vaguely Hitchcockian new video for El Perro Del Mar's "Party," via the Swedish chanteuse's myspace page. The beautifully shot Emily DeGroot-directed clip is so dark and creepy that it has Ms. Assbring reconsidering the original meaning of her own song:

"The filmmaker Emily de Groot made this beautiful yet oddly disturbing film to my song Party. It adds a whole new dimension to the song and almost makes me feel like this is what the song is about rather than the initial meaning. It's a perfect gem and I hope to have the chance to do something together with Emily in the near future."

El Perro Del Mar's new album, From the Valley to the Stars, will be out in January '08. She'll be documenting the progress of the record on her new blog.

The latest in a long line of club remixes for Blitzen Trapper's "Sci-Fi Kid" comes from TX's own dance-punk nerds and recent recipient of Vice Magazine's "Worst Album of the Month" award, Best Fwends. The duo describes their sound as "retarded anti-pop music made by two musical idiot savants from Texas with a cheap computer," and that's basically what you get on this remix. Except it's kind of awesome:

Brazos is one of Austin's best new bands. We've long been fans of Martin Crane, but the new stuff he's doing with this band is really special. Brazos will release their new EP, A City Just as Tall, on October 16 on Autobus Records. This brand new track won't appear on said EP, but that's beside the point, because it's still great:

I originally checked out this song from Swedish duo Studio only because someone likened it to a slow-motion version of the Cure's "A Forest" (or something along those lines, anyway). I couldn't find much info about the duo other than that mildly accurate little comparison, but I do know they released West Coast last year in their native Sweden, and the record will apparently see release soon in the U.S. (prompting Stylus to call the album "one of the best of both 2006 and 2007"). This particular track -- one of the shorter numbers on the album at 7+ minutes -- is a dreamy, danceable beach jam that is reason enough to check out the rest of the LP:

Sunday, August 26, 2007

French producer Para One has scored a new film, entitled Naissance des Pieuvres. I'm not really sure what this film is about, seeing as how all available press material is in French, but it's highly likely that is has something to do with swimming though. Moving on, the real focus here is that Para One proves he's capable of creating more than throbbing blog-house/new-rave/whatever-the-fuck jams (see "Dudun Dun"), as his score is made up of gorgeous and moving ambient cinematic soundscapes.

Saturday, August 25, 2007

In reading up on the Black Lips, I came across multiple references to The Seeds, one of the Black Lips' biggest influences, and one of the originators of the psychedelic brand of garage/surf rock that has since been coined "flower punk." My only previous exposure to the Seeds was the appearance of their hit "Mr. Farmer" on the Almost Famous soundtrack, but I checked out the band's 1966 self-titled debut LP on the recommendation of a friend, and it's pretty awesome. Here's the opening track from that album, which was later sampled by Diplo on his amazing remix of Spank Rock's "Put That Pussy on Me"

Friday, August 24, 2007

Thanks to Fader blog for alerting us to the trailer for Sigur Ros' Heima, the band's first-ever film, due later this fall. The DVD will come with a companion album, entitled Hvarf-Heim, which will feature a few unreleased songs. The entire film was shot at various locations around the band's native Iceland, and if the trailer is any indication, this thing is going to be stunning. Download the higher-res version of the trailer here.

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Pseudosix is a sweet Portland band made up of members of other sweet Portland bands (like Joggers). Our friend Paige at Flux=Rad has declared herself a fan, calling the songs on the band's upcoming sophomore LP "sparkling and well-crafted pop gems with a darker, more complicated underbelly." Like Paige, we kind of put off listening to the album for no real reason, but it turns out she's absolutely right. Case in point: "Under the Waves," a rolling, extremely catchy (yet slightly seedy and menacing) '70s-inspired pop tune that we've had on blast all night. Also, GvsB contributor David would like to add that this song reminds him of "an outro to a '70s movie about a sort of raggedy LA cop." Nobody ever escapes the ugly undertow:

Since becoming obsessed with The Tough Alliance's remix of Taken By Trees' "Too Young" last week, I've been listening to an exorbitant amount of the Swedish baseball bat-wielding duo's New Chance LP, which was released in Europe on Sincerely Yours earlier this year. The record is an inimitable blend of '80s synth-pop, tropical island flavor, and children's jump-roping jams, and for me, it deftly walks the fine line between guilty pleasure and album of the summer (along with Kala). Here's the joyous album opener:

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

I originally posted about my love for "Blue" Gene Tyranny's lost 1977 LP, Out of the Blue, back in February. "Next Time Might Be Your Time" remains my favorite "new"/old discovery of 2007, and Unseen Worlds has generously made the 8+ minute long avant-pop epic (featuring vocals from the lovely Patrice Manget) available for free download. Here's what Pitchfork had to say about the song earlier this year:

"...a sweet, country-pop song that reminds me a little of the McGarrigle Sisters French folk-pop records from the mid-70s, but Tyranny's array of synthesizers give it a feel that I can only describe as nostalgic-futuristic. It's like the kind of country music they should have been playing (in) A Clockwork Orange, except with no irony or dark edge..."

Fun fact: "Blue" Gene Tyranny was once a member of the Stooges. Unseen Worlds released a re-mastered reissue of his Out Of The Blue (complete with new artwork and a 24-page booklet) for the first time on CD in early '07. Buy it here or on iTunes.

It's been a slow week around the internet, so how about another video? Here's the dark Johannes Nyholm-directed puppet show for "Twice," the new single from Gothenburg's Little Dragon (Nyholm also directed the Knife's "Heartbeats" video). The band is friends with fellow Swedes Jose Gonzalez and Love is All, and Little Dragon frontwoman Yukimi Nagano's otherworldly vocals have drawn early comparisons to Kate Bush and Bjork. Not sure what's going on here between the bird, the little girl, and the skeleton, but it's all pretty captivating and hypnotic:

Little Dragon's self-titled debut LP comes out September 3 on Peacefrog. Here's an mp3 for "Test," a more soulful electro-pop number that'll appear on the record:

Yet another Animal Collective video, but this time it's official: the Timothy Saccenti-directed monster movie for Strawberry Jam's first single, "Peacebone." This one is awesome, and totally bizarre even by AC standards, but it fits the "freeform electronic-horror-gospel-hip-hop-soul-pop-madness" (Domino's description) of the song. Boneface!

I've been patiently awaiting Sparrow House's Television Snow EP, Jared Van Fleet's (of Voxtrot fame) follow-up to Falls, my favorite EP of 2006. We finally have a preview of the new material, courtesy of a recent live in-studio performance at Austin's KVRX. We also have a very exciting Sparrow House (and other bands)-related announcement coming in the next few days.

Monday, August 20, 2007

We found this dude White Williams over at the Fader this afternoon, and were immediately drawn in by this joint's funky bassline and vaguely Odelay-era Beck-ish feel. Oh, and that hideously awesome cover art was a major factor as well.

In part I of this Spike Jonze-conducted interview, we learn that M.I.A. is signing Afrikan Boy to her new label (Zig Zag) and that her shady, horse tranquilizer-abusing Polish hairdresser turned her hair orange. In other M.I.A. news, Kala comes out tomorrow.

Last week, we posted a couple of high-quality videos of Animal Collective performing some older material at last month's MIDI Festival. Yesterday, this video surfaced, featuring some impressive audio of a couple post-Strawberry jams from the same set. Not sure what the first song is (anyone?), but the working title for the second song is "Material Things." And yes, I realize how ridiculous it is that I'm already looking forward to the band's Strawberry Jam follow-up, likely due sometime in 2009:

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Cat Power and her Dirty Delta Blues band blessed Dallas with a nearly 3-hour long marathon set last night at the Granada Theater. With her rad French bulldog Mona watching from backstage, Chan was typically affable and sweet, and seemed to be having a lovely time interacting with the sold-out crowd, and the band was spot on accompanying the chanteuse as they ran through two sets worth of indelibly soulful covers. As it happens, the show was being recorded, so we were treated to a full second set which featured multiple takes on a number of the first set's songs, including their incredible cover of Smokey Robinson and the Miracles' "Tracks of My Tears," and Mona's favorite, "Silver Stallions." The band might have thought otherwise, but this was a truly remarkable, unforgettable show. In a rare instance, an adoring (and lucky) audience was generously allowed to witness a special band work through new material/covers as if we were right there in their living room.

Cat Power and the Dirty Delta Blues: Live at the Granada in Dallas, TX

The GreatestWoman Left LonelyDon't ExplainSilver StallionsI Lost SomeoneNew York, New York (Sinatra cover)NakedMaking BelieveHey ArethaI've Been Loving You Too LongLife ofCould WeSatisfactionDark End of the StreetSong for BobbyWillieThe MoonCrazy

Friday, August 17, 2007

We're not totally sure if this is the official video for Caribou's song "Irene" or some awesome and totally successful YouTube mash-up using excerpts from Planet Earth. Either way, it's calming and beautiful. And with the new Caribou dropping next Tuesday, hopefully this video -- and all our other hyping of this record -- explains why the record is getting some serious and Sirius GvsB airplay.

Just a quick reminder: Cat Power and her Dirty Delta Blues band will play their only 2007 TX show this evening at the Granada Theater. I'm assuming this will sell out, so get your tickets here before they're gone.

If you're in or around Austin this weekend, you should probably hit up Saturday night's Car Stereo (Wars) CD release party at Beauty Bar. Five bucks gets you into what promises to be one of the most fun parties of the summer, featuring two of the best bands in TX (White Denim and Single Frame), and the price of admission includes a free copy of CS(W)'s Burt Reynolds-themed debut LP, The Bandit. We've long been fans of their mashups and mixtapes, and this one is off the hook as well. The obvious reference point here is Girl Talk, but the boys in Car Stereo (Wars) tend to show a little much-appreciated restraint, making The Bandit an enjoyable and only slightly exhausting (in a good way) listen. Name them tunes:

Thursday, August 16, 2007

It's no secret that I adore Bodies of Water and their glorious, William Bowers-approved new album, Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink. I'm also dying to see them live, but slightly bummed that they have no tour dates planned outside of their home state of California at this point. But luckily for me, Cameraphonic was in attendance at their recent Los Angeles CD release party, camera in hand, and captured some great footage of the band. The Arcade Fire comparison that keeps popping up is proven valid on this, the clip for "Doves Circled the Sky." Not quite as cute as this, but still pretty great:

Check a few more Cameraphonic-shot videos from the show here. You can see the band on September 6 in L.A. with John Vanderslice. Here's the mp3 for "Doves Circled the Sky," one of the best tracks from the record:

As you might've noticed, we're quite fond of old-school instant Polaroids around here. So naturally, we became fast fans of Ashod Simonian's absolutely gorgeous new book, Real Fun: Polaroids from the Independent Music Landscape. The book is loaded with dreamy and vibrant images of artists such as Cat Power, Broken Social Scene, the Polyphonic Spree, Pavement, Elliott Smith, and the list goes on. Real Fun also comes with an 18-song CD featuring exclusive songs from some of the bands featured in the book: Califone, Radar Bros., Jason Lytle (ex-Grandaddy), Sleeping States, and more, including this song from Norfolk & Western, featuring M. Ward on guitar:

The Polyphonic Spree has penned the new theme song for our (well, Frisco's) MLS squad, FC Dallas. I was a little confused as to why it's called "Hoops" (apparently that's FC Dallas' nickname?), but it turns out the Spree is well-suited for making stadium jams. Not sure what "There's no hiding from this Dallas, TX fame" means though:

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

I found this undeniably blissful TTA remix of Taken By Trees' "Too Young" over at Discobelle this evening, and after about 20 listens, I feel comfortable announcing how smitten I am. I couldn't dream of a more ideal union than Victoria Bergsman's fragile vocals and the Tough Alliance's lush tropical soundscapes, and the execution somehow outshines the premise. TTA's label offers this bit of wisdom, along with a free download of the song...

"Sometimes the aim for reality feels too unrealistic. Sometimes you have to indulge in sweet distractions, gentle escapes and beautiful illusions to be able to stand this excuse for an existance. Sometimes you're just too young."

Totally. Without a doubt the Swedish indie-pop collaboration of the year. Highly recommended, best new music, etc.

Thanks to Texas Monthly for the tip on this new Spoon video for "Don't You Evah," featuring a dancing Keepon. Pretty sure this is the official video, though I suppose it's entirely possible that the dancing Keepon just randomly bumped into Britt Daniel on a Tokyo escalator:

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Here's some great footage of Animal Collective playing "Loch Raven" at the MIDI Festival, which took place a couple of weeks ago on the French Riviera. You can check another video from the fest ("Leaf House") here.

If it seems like I've been talking about the Black Lips a lot lately, it's because they've been on fire for about the past six months. Their live album from earlier this year is currently sitting in my top 5 for 2007, their new studio record Good Bad Not Evil (out September 11) is growing on me with each listen, and we're beyond psyched about presenting their first-ever Dallas show in early October. Next week, Vice is going to offer footage of "the boys tearing it up in Israel," and they hooked us up with this preview mp3 of "Cold Hands," live from "a party at a Kibbutz":

Jose Gonzalez's much-blogged-about cover of "Teardrop" has long been a highlight of his live show, and his haunting acoustic version will appear on his upcoming LP In Our Nature (see art work above). In the meantime, the label has hooked us up with this high-quality live recording of Jose covering the Massive Attack classic:

Just noticed (via myspace bulletin) that M.I.A. is now streaming Kala in its entirety on her myspace page, so the two of you who haven't downloaded it yet can go listen to the whole thing. The real news here, obviously, is that you can now add "Paper Planes" to your myspace profile.

Here's the new video for Ola Podrida's "Photo Booth." According to frontman David Wingo, the band will be releasing one video per month, each directed by a current indie filmmaker or animator. This is August's installment, directed by Michael Tully:

If you haven't heard Ola Podrida's outstanding self-titled debut LP, I recommend checking it out here. The band has a few notable shows in the near future, including one with Beach House and Papercuts in NYC, and the band will also play the Said the Gramophone showcase at Pop Montreal.

The Besnard Lakes dropped by Chicago Public Radio's Sound Opinions last Friday for an interview and short live session, highlighted by this performance of one of the best songs of 2007, the Brian Wilson-esque "Disaster":

I've been enjoying this bass-heavy (one might even call it "banging") remix of new Castanets' song "Strong Animal" for much of the evening, and Asthmatic Kitty was generous enough to allow me to share it with you. The original will appear on the band's upcoming full-length, In the Vines. Here's what Ray Raposa had to say about the remix, via myspace:

"First of a few or more (maybe not) remixes from upcoming 'Nets disc "In the Vines"...West Coaster and Hero to All Rafter Roberts manned boards and faders and clickers for it. Bass up, mids wherever. Here's to big airplanes and weekend agoraphobics,-RR"

It's been a while since I blindly stumbled upon a true myspace gem, but I found the wonderfully monikered Golden Ghost and a Murder Hawk via Castanets' myspace page, and I think I'm in love with this song:

Monday, August 13, 2007

According to Pitchfork, the Arcade Fire will cover one of my favorite songs from the '60s, the 1965 Serge Gainsbourg-penned France Gall classic, "Poupee de Cire, Poupee de Son." The song will appear on a limited split 7" with LCD Soundsystem. Here's a priceless and impossibly cute video of France Gall performing the song for a 1965 Eurovision competition in Luxembourg:

Watch a live performance of the Arcade Fire's Regine-fronted version of "Poupee de Cire" here.

"The entire record is about the internal joy that we've been feeling at being able to overcome so much in the last year and then looking around at the country we love, which is disintegrating before our eyes..."--Zach Rogue

After a reportedly less-than-amicable split with Sub Pop, Rogue Wave is set to release their new album, Asleep at Heaven's Gate, on Brushfire Records on September 18. The first track to surface from the LP -- the shimmering late-summer anthem "Lake Michigan" -- addresses the "environmental destruction and the greed that perpetuates our inability to make any kind of progress..."

Saturday, August 11, 2007

I've recently become enamored with Oh No's new LP, Dr. Oh No's Oxperiment (thanks to Analog Giant). The record has been called this year's Donuts, and Stones Throw describes it as "an audio tour of Turkish, Lebanese, Greek & Italian psyche funk: chopped, flipped & ripped." I only recently discovered how much I love some of that obscure '70s Anatolian psych-funk stuff (see Selda), so it was a welcome surprise to find that Oh No actually samples a Selda jam on Dr. Oh No's Oxperiment's opening track:

Dr. Oh No's Oxperiment is out August 14, but you can get it now from eMusic with your 25-download trial. Get Selda's 1976 debut LP here. Stones Throw is also offering up this free "rap version" of Oxperiment cut, "Action":

Friday, August 10, 2007

So I was talking to that dude from Marathonpacks about his contention that the Go! Team is essentially "twee-as-all-holy-hell kiddie rap, it's ESG minus the sexuality and implied danger, it's perfect for roughly 74 percent of mp3 bloggers." I agreed that this was probably all true, but refuse to concede that these are necessarily bad things. This stuff is tailor-made for those of us that grew up on cheesy, over-the-top, early '80s TV music. Do it! Alright.

Subterranean Blog just premiered the brand new, Andreas Nilsson-directed video for Jose Gonzalez' new single, "Down the Line." Nilsson is responsible for all those insane and often disturbing videos for The Knife, but this one might be his darkest and most unsettling work yet:

Thursday, August 09, 2007

The Panda Bear Tour DVD that I mentioned last month is now available. The best part? It's FREE. The People Party DVD features the following:

"nearly 2 hours of material including a song by each opener, full Panda Bear set edited from 3 nights, sound checks, other random footage, and an exclusive interview with Panda Bear. The DVD also comes with a fully functional chapter selection mode so you can cruise right to the parts you want to see!"

Awesome! We personally went with (and highly recommend) the version that comes with the extra bonus disc, which contains the full, uncut sets from any 2 nights of your choice from Panda Bear's U.S. Tour. This version requires a small donation ($5-$10) to help cover Mike's costs. So head over there now, drop 10 bucks, and get the DVD.

We talked a little about how great this new Devendra Banhart song is when we posted the promo video last week, and now XL has gone and made the 8-minute epic "Seahorse" (which features a brief guest appearance by the lovely Vashti Bunyan) the official promo mp3 for Devendra's upcoming record, Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Mountain. Good move: